Don’t Adjust Your Set, Adjust Your Eyes

It’s the House, the whole House and nothing but the House when Nick Mitchell’s sixth annual Adjust Your Eyes Music & Art Festival takes over every square inch of the historic Southgate House mansion this Friday night. Every year, Mitchell uses AYE to benefit a different worthy cause, and this year’s might well be among the worthiest yet, as proceeds will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, quite possibly the highest-profile breast cancer organization in the country.

Doors open at 8 p.m. and the music starts at 8:30 p.m.; tickets for the festival are $7 for 21 and over, $10 for 18-20. The AYE line-up for 2011 might also be the best of the series so far, with Mitchell’s own Chick Pimp, Coke Dealer at a Bar joined by SHADOWRAPTR, Shotski, Vaudeville Freud, Revenge Pinata, the Ohms, Skeetones, Argotec, Pharaoh Loosey, Juan Cosby & DJ DUB Locks, Sassy Molasses, Michael McEntire, Zella Whelms, Wonky Tonk, The Better of Their Blunders and Moriah Lawson. More information can be found at www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=192113504167407.

Rock, Roll & Read

Another very worthy cause gets the philanthropic treatment this Friday when the AltOhio Benefit for the Literacy Center West takes place at the Northside Tavern.

The LCW endeavors to educate teenagers and adults alike, assisting the underprivileged to obtain their GEDs and continue into a college setting or an improved work situation. The LCW, a nonprofit organization, is in constant need of resources to accomplish its vital mission and the proceeds from the Tavern show will definitely help in this period of drastic state cutbacks.

Doors at the Tavern will open at 8 p.m., the show starts at 9 p.m. and there’s a suggested donation of $5. The bill includes Dan Orlando and his Band of Hopefuls, The Ridges, The Never Setting Suns and Frontier Folk Nebraska. Find details at www.altohio.com/literacy-center-benefit.

Steady Diet of Fugazi

And now for something completely different. The Mad Hatter in Covington is hosting a multi-band soiree this Friday, and this one comes with an overarching theme — the evening is a tribute to Fugazi, clearly one of the most politically and socially aware bands of the last quarter century. In keeping with the Fugazi theme, tickets for the 9 p.m. event will be $5 for 21 and over, $8 for everyone under 21. Bands interpreting the Fugazi canon (at least two songs each) include Oso Bear, knife the symphony, Swear Jar, Umin, Switchblade Syndicate, the Sweep, Fists of Love, Feral Child, Rosemary Device, Sometimes, Matt Ogden, Karla Weisenberger, Chris Wolfe, Nomadical, Koan, You, You’re Awesome, Tony Pero, Caterpillar Tracks, Jackass, Valley of the Sun, Lost Hands Found Fingers and Lifelike. Although the show, dubbed Keep Your Eyes Open, is not literally a benefit, performer/promoter Matt Ogden promises that any profits will be used to take the participating bands out for drinks. That’s a cause we can get behind, too. Check www.madhatterclub.com for more information.

MPMF Update

The MidPoint Music Festival this week added six more acts to its already tantalizing lineup: The Album Leaf, The Joy Formidable, U.S. Royalty, The Bright Light Social Hour, NewVillager and Asobi Seksu. Don’t forget the you can pick up your MPMF wristbands at a $10 discount ($39 vs. $49) during the summer series, which this week features Viva Voce (see Sound Advice on page 25). For more info, go to mpmf.com.